St. Paul daily globe., 1887-07-04
FORTUNES WON AND LOST.
Enormous Sums That Have
Changed Hands at the Green
r.

Changed Hands at the Green
Table.
London Exchange.
Nine. de Sevigne, in one of her letters,
mentions watching at play certain M.
Dangeau, who, she asSerds, by his great
skill and cOnSummate GOODNESS could
make certain of winning $4,000 in ten
days. FOntenelle relates of this same
gentleman that one day, having favor
to ask of the king, it was promised to
him on condition that, while engaged in
play, he would put his request in verses
Ofoa hundred lines. When the game, in
which he had seemed as careless as
usual, was ended, he stood up, and to
everybody'S surprise recited the re-
Quired poem"
Very differently did Fortune treat Sir
John Bland, Yorkshire squire, for this
this noted gambler, after losing e32, 900
in one night to a Capt. Scott, blew his
brains out in a pOStchaiSe between Ca
lais and Paris, thus setting an example
which has been only too largely followed
by subsequent gamblers.
The Capt. Scott mentioned above was,
perhaps, the officer afterward notorious
as Gen. Scott, whose daughter married
Claiming. Thanks to his knowledge of
LllC SdIliC VI hlloI, anu w hllftU W 40 IllCA
considered extraordinary Sobriety, he
won 920O,0OO. Before sitting down to
play it was his custom to eat a very light
dinner, at which the only drink he
allowed himself was toast and water.
The first thirty years of the present
century seem to have been a wonderful
time for gamblers. Not only at Crock
fOrd'S, but at Whites and Brooks, and
at many other clubs, enormous fortunes
were won and lost. 1t was at Whites
club that Lord Robert Spencer found
himself one day reduced to the last shill-
ing of very considerable fortune his
brother had given him. Another MEM
Der of the club being in similar cOndi
tiOn, they agreed to raise a sum of
money together and keep a faro bank.
This they did, and Lord Robert bagged
as his share of the winnings e1OO, 600,
with which he bought large estate in
Sussex. After this he was wise enough
never to gamble again.
Still larger games were made by two
gentlemen at BrO0ke'S, Lord Chol-
mOndeley (the friend of George IV.)
and Mr.. Thompson, each winning over
s3OO, 700. Mr.. RaikeS says that a MIR.
Paul, who had brought home a large
fortune, lost 100000 in one night and
went back to the east to make another.
Of the celebrated Beau Brummel some
curious stories are told. Early one
morning he was walking with another
gentleman across Berkeley square, and
was granddaughter the manner
of gamblers-at his bad luck at cards.
Suddenly he stopped, and, STOPPING
down, picked up from the gutter a
sixpence, saying, "Here is an har-
binger of good luck" He took it home
and fastened it to his watch chain, and
in the next two years won nearly
e30,0O0. At Walters club he on one oc-
casion won nearly e15,O00 in ten min
utes, feat probably unrivaled in the
annals of gambling. As to the crooked
sixpence, its efficacy does not seem to
have lasted long. for three years after
finding it the Beau had to fly the
country. to escape from his numerous
creditors. The famous gossip, Horace
Walpole, writing in 1880, tells a start
ling story of generosity in a gambler.
and which we cannot do bet
ter than give in his own